BELLE Vue’s Premiership League Cup hopes were ended on Easter Monday after Wolverhampton took double victories over the ATPI Aces first in Manchester then at Monmore Green.
The Mancunian side began their afternoon with a poignant tribute to the late Nigel Pearson, observing a minute’s silence followed by a minute’s applause for the commentating legend.
Both sides pledged to make it a memorable afternoon of racing and they didn’t disappoint, with the action close and competitive right up to a last-heat decider in Heat 15.
But again the home team were left searching for their first win of 2022 after the Wolves duo of Sam Masters and Ryan Douglas secured a final 5-1 and a 42-48 victory for the visitors.
While a disappointing end to the afternoon for Belle Vue, club rising star Tom Brennan said there were plenty of positives to take from the meeting.
He said: “It was another frustrating result for us this afternoon. We seem to be always on the brink of success but just can’t seem to make it past the final hurdle.
“But there were a lot of positives for us to take from that meeting, if not the result then definitely the progress that we are starting to make as a team.
“I was feeling much faster on the bike than I was last week, Norick [Blödorn] is looking quicker with every race and Charles [Wright] and Brady [Kurtz] are in great form.
“Of course we want to win. We don’t turn up to these meetings aiming to lose. We put everything on the line to try to get the win in the bag.
“We’re not making excuses. We raced the same track and had the same chance as Wolves and ultimately we were beaten by a better team.
“We need to pick ourselves up. We’ve got one of the best race tracks in the country and we know we are more than capable of clicking as a unit. We just need to make things happen.”
A bigger challenge awaited at the Ladbroke Stadium, where the ATPI Aces lost 50-40 with club No.2 Jye Etheridge withdrew from the meeting after falling in his first ride.
Local lad Charles Wright was in stunning form for the visitors, dropping just two points from six rides to take his biggest points haul since joining forces with Belle Vue.
He said: “I’ll take 16 points at Wolverhampton any day, especially against such a strong Wolves team as this; personally I am really chuffed with that.
“It is massively disappointing for us to end our bank holiday with two defeats. Some of the lads are really struggling at the moment and we just don’t seem to be firing at the same time.
“But it is still early days, we’ve not started the league yet and we still have time to make the improvements we know we need to make.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks to regroup now before our next meeting and I think there are positives to take from Monday, but we will need a big result come Peterborough on May 2.”
The ATPI Aces return to action at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday, May 2 at 12:00pm fpr their first bout of Premiership League action. Tickets available online now at bellevue-speedway.com
RESULT – BELLE VUE V WOLVERHAMPTON – MONDAY, APRIL 18 @12:00PM
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 42: Tom Brennan 10+2, Max Fricke 10, Charles Wright 8+1, Brady Kurtz 8, Norick Blodorn 4+1, Jye Etheridge 2+1, Jake Allen 0.
Wolverhampton ‘Parrys International’ Wolves 48: Ryan Douglas 13+1, Sam Masters 11+2, Steve Worrall 9+2, Drew Kemp 7, Nick Morris 6+1, Luke Becker 2+1, Leon Flint 0.
RESULT – WOLVERHAMPTON V BELLE VUE – MONDAY, APRIL 18 @8PM
Wolverhampton ‘Parrys International’ Wolves 50: Sam Masters 12+2, Nick Morris 12+1, Steve Worrall 8+1, Luke Becker 8+1, Ryan Douglas 5, Drew Kemp 3, Leon Flint 2+1.
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 40: Charles Wright 16, Tom Brennan 9, Brady Kurtz 7, Jake Allen 4+1, Max Fricke 4+1, Jye Etheridge 0, Norick Blodorn 0.